The Port Reading Railroad was a railroad chartered in 1890 and opened in 1892 by the Reading Railroad.

Origins

The Port Reading Railroad started at a junction in Bound Brook, New Jersey

Bound Brook, New Jersey

Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. At the United States 2010 Census, the population was 10,402.Bound Brook was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1869, within portions of Bridgewater Township...

 with the Lehigh Valley Railroad

Lehigh Valley Railroad

The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...

 and Central Railroad of New Jersey

Central Railroad of New Jersey

The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...

 and headed eastward across northern Middlesex County, New Jersey

Middlesex County, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 750,162 people, 265,815 households, and 190,855 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,422 people per square mile . There were 273,637 housing units at an average density of 884 per square mile...

 to a terminus port called Port Reading, which was situated on the Arthur Kill

Arthur Kill

The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York from mainland New Jersey, USA, and a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Kill is from the Middle Dutch word kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel"...

 in Woodbridge Township

Woodbridge Township, New Jersey

-Communities:Many distinct communities exist within Woodbridge Township. Several of these communities have their own ZIP codes, and many are listed by the United States Census Bureau as census-designated places, but they are all unincorporated areas and neighborhoods within the Township that,...

 near Perth Amboy, New Jersey

Perth Amboy, New Jersey

Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 50,814. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to Raritan Bay.-Name:The Lenape...

. Port Reading was constructed specifically to serve the needs of the Reading Railroad.

Via the Port Reading Railroad and the affiliated Port Reading shipping terminal

Port Reading, New Jersey

Port Reading is a census-designated place and unincorporated area within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,829.-History:...

 (which was also built by the Reading Railroad) along the Arthur Kill

Arthur Kill

The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York from mainland New Jersey, USA, and a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Kill is from the Middle Dutch word kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel"...

 waterway, trains from the Reading Railroad's Trenton line (originally the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad) were capable of providing through service to/from the New York ports to points south and west, via a connection along the Raritan River

Raritan River

The Raritan River is a major river of central New Jersey in the United States. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.-Description:...

 from Manville, New Jersey

Manville, New Jersey

Manville is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 10,344. Manville was named after the Johns-Manville Corporation, which maintained a large manufacturing facility in the borough for decades.Historically, many of...

 to Bound Brook that was built between the Reading Railroad's Trenton line and the newly built Port Reading Railroad. Remnants of this connection, such as decaying trestles and track, can still be seen along the CSX/NS mainline through this area. The structures closest to the river are the former Reading Railroad connection.

On the 1947 map of Middlesex County (http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/MIDDLESEX_COUNTY/MiddlesexCounty_1947.jpg) can be seen the route of the Port Reading Railroad, going from Bound Brook (which is just across the county line in Somerset County) to Port Reading. The route is labeled “Philadelphia & Reading Railroad”.

20th-century decline

The Port Reading Railroad and its parent the Reading Railroad, as was the case for many American railroads of the time period, saw a general drop off in business as the 20th Century progressed, and the railroads fell into disrepair and eventually went bankrupt. Secondary lines such as the Port Reading Railroad were hit especially hard during this period of decline, as the parent railroads neglected their branch lines as business declined.

By the time Conrail took over most railroading in the northeastern United States in 1976, the renamed Port Reading Secondary (terminology used by Conrail to describe branch lines) was little more than a seldom used line that serviced local industries. This status continued throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s as Conrail saw little need for the redundant Port Reading Secondary beyond providing local freight services.

CSX ownership

CSX took over 42% of the Conrail system in 1998 via a complicated stock buyout in which they split the assets of the Conrail system with Norfolk Southern. CSX wound up with the Port Reading Secondary as a result of the buyout.

In contrast to earlier decades, the 1990s was a decade in which railroads started to see some incremental increases in freight traffic as increases in freight demand and congested highways caused more shippers to move their freight via rail. To respond to the challenge of serving the increased demands of the New York/New Jersey region, CSX invested millions of dollars to upgrade the Port Reading Secondary to handle high-clearance long distance trains, including double-stack trains from western ports.

The Port Reading Secondary now offers an additional route to CSX's rail facilities in the New York/New Jersey region, via the Chemical Coast

Chemical Coast

The Chemical Coast is the section of Union and Middlesex counties in New Jersey. It is located along the shores of the Arthur Kill, a heavily used waterway of the Port of New York and New Jersey, across from Staten Island, New York.-History:...

 line that runs along heavily industrialized eastern New Jersey, near the Arthur Kill

Arthur Kill

The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York from mainland New Jersey, USA, and a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Kill is from the Middle Dutch word kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel"...

 waterway that separates New Jersey from Staten Island, New York. Rail traffic has increased substantially on the Port Reading Secondary in recent years as a result of the upgrades, and the line appears to have a bright future. Railroad signals currently exist at the crossing on Homestead Avenue in Avenel

Avenel, New Jersey

Avenel is a census-designated place and unincorporated area within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 17,552...

, but not at Omar Avenue in Avenel, where such signals would interfere with exiting trucks. Also, Carteret has signals at the crossing by the NJ Turnpike entrance.